September 25, 2013
Page 7
Senior Lifestyles
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I
f you forget where you put your car keys and
you can’t seem to remember things as well as
you used to, the problem may well be with
the GluN2B subunits in your NMDA receptors.
And don’t be surprised if by tomorrow you
can’t remember the name of those darned sub-
units.
They help you remember things, but you’ve
been losing them almost since the day you were
born, and it’s only going to get worse. An older
adult may have only half as many of them as a
younger person.
Research on these biochemical processes at
the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State Uni-
versity is making it clear that cognitive decline
with age is a natural part of life, and scientists
are tracking the problem down to highly specif-
ic components of the brain. Separate from some
more serious problems like dementia and
Alzheimer’s disease, virtually everyone loses
memory-making and cognitive abilities as they
age. The process is well under way by the age of
40 and picks up speed after that.
But it may not have to be that way.
“These are biological processes and once we
fully understand what is going on, we may be
able to slow or prevent it,” said Kathy Magnus-
son, an OSU neuroscientist. “There may be
ways to influence it with diet, health habits, con-
tinued mental activity or even drugs.”
The processes are complex. In a recent study,
researchers found that one protein that stabilizes
receptors in a young animal — a good thing
conducive to learning and memory — can have
just the opposite effect if there’s too much of it
in an older animal.
But complexity aside, progress is being
made. In recent research, supported by the Na-
tional Institutes of Health, OSU scientists used a
genetic therapy in laboratory mice in which a
virus helped carry complementary DNA into ap-
propriate cells and restored some GluN2B sub-
units. Tests showed that it helped mice improve
their memory and cognitive ability.
The NMDA receptor has been known about
for decades, Magnusson said. It plays a role in
memory and learning but isn’t active all the time
— it takes a fairly strong stimulus of some type
to turn it on and allow you to remember some-
thing. The routine of getting dressed in the
morning is ignored and quickly lost to the fog of
time, but the day you had an auto accident earns
a permanent etching in your memory.
Within the NMDA receptor are various sub-
units and Magnusson said that research keeps
pointing back to the GluN2B subunit as one of
the most important. Infants and children have
lots of them and as a result are like a sponge in
soaking up memories and learning new things.
But they gradually dwindle in number with age
and it also appears the ones that are left work
less efficiently. “You can still learn new things
and make new memories when you are older,
but it’s not as easy,” Magnusson said.
Until more specific help is available, she
said, some of the best advice for maintaining
cognitive function is to keep using your brain.
Break old habits, do things different ways. Get
physical exercise, maintain a good diet and en-
sure social interaction. Such activities help keep
these “subunits” active and functioning.
Gene therapy already used in mice would
probably be a last choice for humans, rather than
a first option, Magnusson said. Dietary or drug
options would be explored first.
“The one thing that does seem fairly clear is
that cognitive decline is not inevitable,” she said.
“It’s biological, we’re finding out why it hap-
pens, and it appears there are ways we might be
able to slow or stop it, perhaps repair the
NMDA receptors. If we can determine how to
do that without harm, we will.”
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Cognitive decline with age is normal, routine – but not inevitable
Everyone loses memory-making abilities, but there might be ways to slow it down, research shows
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